CORRECTION: A previous version of this story identified the project as an expansion of the York Energy Centre, a gas plant. In fact, the project is for battery storage that will operate independently of the neighbouring York Energy Centre.
The Ontario government is adding to the power grid with a battery storage project just outside of Newmarket that it says will power up to 120,000 more homes in the province.
Government officials broke ground on the project by the York Energy Centre today, Oct. 16. Capital Power — which owns the natural gas facility located in King just northwest of Newmarket — is building a new battery energy storage system. The system will operate independently of the York Energy Centre, storing power during off-hours and then putting it back into the power grid at peak times. The expansion is expected to store and release an additional 120 megawatts of electricity at the facility.
Minister of Energy and Electrification Stephen Lecce said it will advance the province’s energy future.
“It’s going to help provide reliable power,” Lecce said. “We care deeply about ensuring families and ratepayers have access to reliable, affordable power.”
Facility operator and owner Capital Power has been constructing the expansion since last August and expects to complete the project by August 2025. The project will feature 136 battery units in weatherproof enclosures that will be used by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) in the province.
The project comes as the IESO attempts to procure more power to meet future demand due to population growth. The organization now projects that electricity demand will increase by 75 per cent by 2050, with more than half (58 per cent) of that projected growth to be here by 2035.
Capital Power president and CEO Avik Dey said the project signifies the best of what the company offers in Canada.
“Ontario has taken great leadership on an approach to balance energy,” Dey said. “We look forward to continuing growing here in Ontario.”
The Ontario government concluded a massive battery storage procurement in May 2024, securing about 3,000 megawatts of new energy storage.
“Building affordable, clean, and reliable electric generation for our growing communities in Northern York Region and South Simcoe is essential to supporting local families and businesses,” York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney said.
York Energy Centre upgrades
The neighbouring York Energy Centre is slated for future upgrades, planning to increase production capacity there, separate from this battery storage project. But that has drawn criticism from environmental groups as an expansion of gas-based power. Organizations like the Ontario Clean Air Alliance have said an expansion of a plant like this should not be needed to meet provincial energy demands and questioned how environmentally sound it is. The alliance called for a comprehensive environmental review of these upgrades in August.
“While we agree that Ontario needs new electricity supply, neither the IESO nor Capital Power has provided credible evidence that new gas-fired generation capacity is the lowest-cost option to meet our peak power needs on our hottest summer days when our air conditioners are running full out,” alliance chair Jack Gibbons said in a letter to the minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks Aug. 13.
Asked about those concerns, Lecce said Ontario has the cleanest energy grid in the world and the province will maintain that.
“What we’re not going to do is pursue an ideological approach,” Lecce said. “Where you’re picking winners or losers that cost 10 times the market rate … We’re going to keep it clean and keep it green, we’re going to lean in, but we’re going to keep the rates down.
“We’re going to use an all-of-the-above approach,” Lecce added. “ We need energy resources to be leveraged in order to produce the reliable, affordable power, clean power for Ontarians.”
Capital Power completed an environmental review report for the upgrades, which projected more efficiency with the upgrades and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
